1. to Dean and his amazing jumping tranny...

   your 4th gear synchronizer is shot, I had a '65 Bug that
   did this, first time it happened it scared the crap out
   of me, engine revving wildly, drove home holding the shift 
   lever, I had the trans replaced with a used one after 2nd
   gear developed a problem of not being able to down shift
   into it, a real problem when going into a turn.

2. to John Brown and his backwards twisted struts...

   I replaced the struts on my '86 just a few weeks ago, the
   old ones were backward from Bently, no big deal, the struts
   are under a lot of pressure, so turning by hand is difficult,
   install the flat end and twist the other, use a pole or a
   helper to hold the hatch open, it's heavy, it's great having
   new struts, BTW I was camping this weekend and noticed one
   of those Dodge/Chrysler products with a pole holding it's
   hatch up, not a VW exclusive problem, they just were out.

3. to Mark Kunkel, hard starting hot engine & clutchless shifting...
 
   I use to be on the VINTAGVW listserv and the thread to solve
   hard starting was to clean or replace all terminals in the
   starter circuit including ground straps, sometimes the big wire
   from the battery to the started had to be replaced.
   
   A friend of mine use to do clutchless shifting in his '82 Mazda
   GLC and still does in his '88 Mazda B2200, he was very good at
   it, never had any clutch or tranny problems.

4. to Rusty VanBondo and the PVC pipe awning trick...

   I tried this same set up this weekend when I was camping, but
   I didn't like relying on friction to hold the pipe/tarp to the
   gutter. I'm planning on cutting the pipe in half and to drill
   holes for a carriage bolt and wing nut to make more of a 
   mechanical clamp, I'll let you know how it works out. BTW I
   picked up the economy canopy from CAMPMOR, only $24.99 includes
   poles, ropes and stakes, a good deal at twice the price, also 
   I cut the pipe into 2' sections so I could store it under the
   bench seat.

5. to Matt Goike and the number for WCM

   if no one else told you, the phone number for West Coast Metric
   is, (310) 325-0005, FAX is (310) 325-9733, nice people, just
   orderd hub caps, a bumper cap and an interior dome light.

If you didn't figure it out, I'm on digest mode,
John
'86 Westy/Weekender